Statutory corporation

A statutory corporation is a corporation created by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction thus they might be ordinary companies/corporations owned by a government with or without other shareholders, or they might be a body without shareholders which is controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in some cases minimal) extent provided for in the creating legislation.

Bodies described in the English language as "statutory corporations" exist in the following countries in accordance with the associated descriptions (where provided).

Contents

In Australia, statutory corporations are created by Acts of state or federal parliaments. Current statutory corporations include Australia Post, Airservices Australia, the Australian Rail Track Corporation and the Australian Egg Corporation. The purpose of their separation from normal government operations is to ensure profitability, and in theory, independence of decision making from the state or national government (to ensure that decisions are made on a commercial basis with less or no political interference.)

As statutory corporations, their regulatory and business conditions may be significantly different from private-sector companies. An example of this in Australia is the regulatory conditions placed on the national communications company Telstra.

A significant number of the statutory corporations are private commercial operations, a number of which have been privatised, in part or in whole, since the 1980s: these have included the national airline Qantas, Telstra (also previously known as Telecom Australia), and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (KdöR) is a statutory corporation of Germany. An example of a statutory corporation is a "Kassenärztliche Vereinigung", a body involved in the provision of out-patient medical services in a German state. The established Christian churches, the Jewish communities and the public broadcasters in Germany are other prominent examples.

In Hong Kong some corporations are incorporated by legislation. An example is the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, which owns the railway network and previously also an operator. The MTR Corporation Limited was also such a company, then named as Mass Transit Railway Corporation. Other examples include the former Land Development Corporation, and the Industrial Estates Corporation.

Statutory corporation are public enterprises brought into existence by a Special Act of the Parliament. The Act defines its powers and functions, rules and regulations governing its employees and its relationship with government departments.

This is a corporate body created by the legislature with defined powers and functions and is financially independent with a clear control over a specified area or a particular type of commercial activity. It is a corporate person and has the capacity of acting in its own name. Statutory corporations therefore have the power of the government and considerable amount of operating flexibility of private enterprises. Few are

Airports Authority of India (www.aai.aero/)

Damodar Valley corporation (www.dvcindia.org/)

National Highways Authority of India (www.nhai.org/)

Central Warehousing Corporation (cewacor.nic.in/)

Inland Waterways Authority of India (www.iwai.gov.in/)

Food Corporation of India (fciweb.nic.in/)

National Human Rights Commission (www.nhrc.nic.in/)

Features:

Generally financed by the central or state government.

May borrow funds from the public and govt. organisation through statutory sources.

they have separate legal entity.

they has to frame their own policies & procedures within the scope of state legislature.

providing better services to public & make adequate profit.

they autonomous in their functioning thus they enjoy operation flexibility.

they can recruit & appoint their employee with their service condition, since they are corporate body.

In Ireland, a statutory corporation is a body corporate, which is created under a particular Act of the Oireachtas, which is expected to operate as if it were a commercial company (with or without a subsidy from the Exchequer, depending on whether or not it would make a profit without one). Such bodies do not have shareholders, but are typically boards appointed by a sponsor minister. The provisions of the Companies' Acts do not typically directly apply to such bodies, although their founding legislation may specify similar requirements. As they are not formally companies they do not make a profit or loss, but rather a surplus or deficit.

At the state level, municipal corporations and counties are often created by legislative acts. Some organizations such as a transit district or special purpose corporations such as a university, are also created by statute. In some states, a city or county can be created by petition of a certain number or percentage of voters or landholders of the affected area, which then causes a municipal corporation to be chartered as a result of compliance with the appropriate law. Corporations to be established for most other purposes are usually just incorporated as any other non-profit corporation, by filing the paperwork with the appropriate agency as part of the formation of the entity.

At the Federal level, a small number of corporations are created by Congress. Prior to the District of Columbia being granted the ability to issue corporate charters in the late 19th century, corporations operating in the District required a congressional charter. With limited exceptions, most corporations created by Congress are not federally chartered, but are simply created as District of Columbia corporations as a result of the enabling law.[citation needed]